


Life's Demise

by vestigialVox



Category: Original Work
Genre: Body Horror, Gen, Mild Language, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Possession
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-28
Updated: 2020-05-01
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:00:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23902738
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vestigialVox/pseuds/vestigialVox
Summary: A young god goes spelunking and leaves an unwilling threat to the entire pantheon.





	1. Encounter

Ishnin squeezed through the dark and damp crevice on the floor. Even as he descended as far as he could without letting go, his feet still dangled. He was drawn to follow this path no matter the risk. He took a deep breath and let go.

He only fell a few inches before his feet successfully reunited with the ground. Not a second later, his ass reconnected as well.

“Ah, dammit, dammit,” he reeled.

Down here, the last traces of daylight finally faded. Ishnin dug through his bag and groped for his lamp and tinderbox. He cautiously lit it as he should have before he lost light.

The lamplight weaved through the fog of the cave. He noticed he had scraped his arm against the ground on his fall. He brushed his hand over the injury, and it vanished.

Droplets fell from stalactites into a clear pool that took up most of the room and reached deeper into the caves beyond the light of the lamp. Ishnin knelt by the pool to investigate. A smooth, opalescent stone caught his eye, and he fished it out. It didn’t seem to be anything particularly valuable at an eye’s glance, but it was beautiful. After taking a moment to admire it, he tucked it away in his bag. Deeper in the pool, he could hear fish swimming. He breathed in deep to appreciate the cold air and sat there for several minutes.

Eventually, he slowly stood up. He raised his hands above his head and stretched. A tunnel in the corner of his eye caught his attention. Lamp in hand, he approached it. At the entrance of the tunnel, Ishnin stood and listened, but all he could hear were the drops of water that fell regularly from the rock ceiling. He descended through the tunnel.

.  
.  
.  
.

.

Ishnin had been wandering this cave system for hours. He was ready to leave but had forgotten one of his turns or misremembered the meaning of one of his markers and was now completely lost. He was about to resign himself to calling for help. Still, the embarrassment of getting lost might be too much to bear once someone else knew. There was a short list of people who could fish him out whether through teleportation or other means, but he didn’t trust that whoever they sent wouldn’t give him hell for this.

A strange melody perked his ears. It was as if a choir were singing several conflicting chords at once, but the culmination of the sounds didn’t clash as they should’ve. It sent a chill through his bones. He followed the sound.

Ishnin entered a large chamber whose walls were littered with other tunnels. He knelt down and placed a leaf to mark where he came from.

In the center of the chamber hovered a writhing mass of ink and stars. Several eyes resembling several different beasts formed on its mass. They all stared at Ishnin.

The creature spoke in several voices, humanoid and beastly alike: “A little godling visits me. I am so honored, but I am afraid I have no offerings for you.”

Its voices were slow and oozed sarcasm. The whole of its being radiated a strong malevolence. All of Ishnin’s muscles were yelling at him to run, but he was paralyzed in fear. He had been told of these creatures but had never met one. They were driven from the inhabited planes long before years were counted. He'd never seen one outside the pages of ancient books. Cruel, destructive beings that sought to undo the universe and return to the solace before creation.

As Ishnin hesitated to respond, a toothy mouth morphed from one of the larger eyes, and the features rearranged themselves around it as it grew. The unling grinned unkindly.

“Perhaps a song will suffice?” It said, “I do love to sing.”

Ishnin snapped himself to attention, “No, that’s quite alright. If you could just tell me how to get back to the surface, I’ll be on my way.”

It tilted itself as one would playfully cock their head. “Is that so? I would rather sing, but I can do that instead easily enough. Why don’t you come closer, so I can whisper the instructions in your ear?”

“I’m sure you can tell me from there. Your voice carries so well.”

“Oh, but that’d hardly be courteous to yell across the room. And I’m sure that even with your long, elven ears, a whisper would struggle to reach you.”

Ishnin didn’t trust that it would give in easily. He took a few slow steps into its chamber. It rolled around and chuckled madly. Ishnin hopped back.

“I think I’d better go back to trying to find the path on my own. A good mental exercise, you know?” He said.

He spun around on his heel, and the tunnel he had came from seemed no more than an indent in the wall. His leaf path marker laid serene to confirm. The unling whispered something unintelligible, and pain flared through every part of Ishnin’s brain. His vision went white, and he fell to the ground, head in his hands.

“Now, godling, I don’t think you’re being very polite,” it said. “I only wanted to sing.”

As his vision came back into focus, Ishnin became aware of the unling approaching him. An inky trail followed where it hovered. It grew two foggy tentacles and placed them in his ears. As it did, his body went limp. He tried to move, to resist, but it was a wasted effort. A third tentacle bubbled out of its body. It shushed Ishnin as if he could talk. It leaned in close and pressed its face against his. It whispered a strange spell, and as the ground shook violently, Ishnin went unconscious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope to be able to add more chapters in this saga. I have a few drafts written out for the next two chapters and vague ideas for after, but I need some sweet motivation. As I finish my finals, I'll probably find some. Here's hoping!
> 
> Boy am I going to regret sounding this optimistic!


	2. Respite

Ishnin came to as a someone vigorously shook his shoulder. He halfheartedly swatted them away. He opened his eyes, and his vision focused on Dosha, god of the underground, lit by a lamp of his own.

“Thank goodness you’re alright. Let me tell you, when I heard you where near the collapse, I made a mad dash.” Dosha’s singular, friendly voice made any leftover tension in Ishnin’s body melt away.

As he processed what had just been said to him, he zeroed in on one word. “Dosha, there was a collapse?”

“Yeah, a nasty one too. Near a dozen peaks fell and formed a moat around the one we’re under now. Well, not a moat yet, but once it rains, it will start filling up as one. It’s leakproof enough,” he said.

“What?

“Yeah, it was really something. There was definitely some magic involved, but I can’t for the life of me figure out the source. Your specialty lies more in healing, so it’s probably pointless to chase you as a suspect, yeah?” Dosha said.

“Yeah, something like that would've had to have been sorcery, not witchcraft,” Ishnin agreed.

Dosha said, “You were here when it happened though, so do you have any clues you could pass on? Just in case this ends up being something significant.”

He hesitated. “None, sorry.”

“Right, well, that’s a shame, but Ish, if you could do be a favor,” Dosha said, “next time you go spelunking, why don’t you ask me to come along with you? Not safe to go alone, and Mother knows I could use the company. But seriously, Ishnin, be careful. You wouldn’t want to spend your eternity under rubble: alone, in pain, and unable to call for help.”

“Yeah, I wouldn’t. I get it,” Ishnin said. “How’d you find me anyway?”

He replied, “Drayer called me shortly after the collapse. They said you went exploring in this area. They tried to contact you a few times, but you didn’t answer your speaking stone. They worry about you, y’know.”

Ishnin sighed, “Yeah, I know.”

“Oh, speaking of,” he said, “I’m supposed to escort you back home should I find you. Think you can stand?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AU where nothing bad happens, and Ishnin and Dosha just go spelunking. They won't get that from me at least. We need plot here.


	3. Breathe

At home, Ishnin curled up under a warm handmade quilt on a couch in the main room. One of the more affectionate cats of the many who lived here cuddled up against him and repeatedly headbutted him as his parent, Drayer, hummed in the kitchen. Right now, it was just those two and their cats. Ishnin’s sister had moved out years ago, but he felt he still had too much to learn from Drayer. Ishnin began absentmindedly petting the cat which responded with enthusiastic purring.

Several moments in this cozy and domestic scene passed by before Drayer exited the kitchen holding a bowl of a creamy fish stew. Ishnin got excited and tried to sit up in a way that wouldn’t disturb the cat on his chest, but on the slightest disturbance, she used his chest as a springboard to the other side of the room. He then shifted to a much more comfortable position than would’ve been possible with her on his chest and accepted the bowl.

“Thanks,” he said.

“You’re welcome,” Drayer responded. “I’m just glad to see you’re still in one piece.”

“Yeah,” he mumbled.

They tousled his hair and disappeared back into the kitchen to pour a bowl for themselves. Ishnin readjusted his position again and brought his bowl to his face, but as he was about to sip, his right arm froze. It was completely numb and locked. He leaned away from his bowl and tried jerking his arm, but it wouldn’t respond. He tried more forcefully to get his arm to obey but still no success.

Drayer reentered the room with their own bowl in hand. Ishnin tugged his arm once more, and this time, the bowl jerked back toward him and splashed him and his blanket with hot stew.

“Crap!”

Drayer set down their bowl at a table and snatched a towel. They rushed over and wiped Ishnin’s face clean.

“Gods’ sake, Ishnin. Here, give me the blanket, and I’ll wash it. Are you okay?” they said.

He said, “Yeah, I’m- I’m good.”

“Good,” they sighed. “Why don’t you go eat at the table? You can have my bowl, and don’t be afraid to fetch a spoon if you need one.”

“Right, sorry,” he said.

“You’re fine,” they said. “You’ve had a long day. Just try to be more careful.”

“I will,” he said, resigned.

Drayer left the room with the quilt, leaving Ishnin alone plus a half dozen cats about to make a move for the full bowl of fish stew. He trudged over, shooing the cats that had gotten too close. At the table, he hunched over the bowl without eating.

He’d never experienced any spasms or paralysis before. He hadn’t hit his head in the cave or suffered any other serious injuries as far as he could remember, but then how did he fall unconscious when the collapse happened? He couldn’t remember anything unusual. Maybe he did get hit in the head.

He ran his hands over his head, casting healing magic the way along, but he felt nothing change. If there were an issue, it would require a more intensive approach. Healing magic and medicine are different tools for different problems. Whatever this was, Ishnin suspected he’d have to pop into the infirmary first.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fizzled bombshells are one of many reasons professional writers finish a full first draft then edit rigorously before publishing, but see, I'm an overeager brat with an internet connection. We are not the same. Except when we are.


End file.
